STORRS — The coaches wait long months for this day. Yet when it comes, they're not necessarily ready for it.

UConn opens its 2013 football season, its third under coach Paul Pasqualoni, tonight against Towson at Rentschler Field. The Huskies have posted consecutive 5-7 seasons. The quest to put an end to that streak begins against a much tougher foe than the Huskies have traditionally faced in their opener.

Ready or not.

"Even Knute Rockne would like more time to prepare his team," Pasqualoni said. "It's time to see how we've improved, what we've gotten done and evaluate it."

UConn is hardly easing into what is its toughest schedule as an FBS team. The Tigers aren't a pushover, certainly not in the sense that UMass was last year and Fordham was the year before. After tonight, Maryland and Michigan make visits to Rentschler Field.

UConn opened in a similar fashion last year, taking on North Carolina State and Maryland in the weeks following the UMass game, an easy 37-0 triumph. But this is slightly different because there is no dipping the toes in the front end of the season tonight.

Towson is a veteran team that has become accustomed to winning of late. It is not going to waltz into Rentschler with knocking knees.

"This is a pretty good team," quarterback Chandler Whitmer said. "I like that. It's better to get tested right off the bat so you can see where you are. There are a lot of things we have to be concerned about, but, ultimately, we have to worry about ourselves."

There clearly are concerns. UConn has to replace two linebackers who were stalwarts for a few years. The Huskies are playing with a somewhat inexperienced secondary that suddenly has redshirt freshman Obi Melifonwu thrust into a starting safety role because of Andrew Adams' shoulder injury.

Of primary concern is the offense, as is usually the case with the Huskies. What isn't normal is that the running game is the cause for concern. Typically strong in that regard, UConn was terrible last year mostly because the offensive line was not good. It failed to open holes for Lyle McCombs, who then tried to do too much, and Whitmer took such a beating it was a wonder sometimes how he made it through the entire season.

Whitmer threw for nearly 2,700 yards last year, posting the fifth-best single-season total in school history. The hope is that T.J. Weist's new offense will open things in every area. UConn is unlikely to show too much of the new offense tonight, but there will surely be plenty of eyes on the offensive line's performance.

"They're definitely improving," McCombs said of the offensive line. "They're working hard every day, just like we all are. We're going to see what happens."

That is the nature of opening games. Nobody really knows what might happen.

"I want to see what our identity is," Pasqualoni said. "Every coach is hoping that he sees the identity of a good, solid, tough football team that takes care of the ball, plays the game the right way, doesn't do stupid things, doesn't beat themselves and plays well on special teams.

"Like everybody wants to see those things, I want to see them, too."

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